When I was a child, the Jersey Shore was my magical place. My great-grandmother, her siblings, and a few other relatives lived there in a high-rise apartment building, so every summer we’d visit for a week. Looking out from the balcony, I believed the ocean went on forever. On the bottom floor, the community pool brought children together in carefree, summer bliss.
At the beach, my brother and I used our boogie boards like 16-year-olds with fresh permits, owning the waves until sunset. I built sandcastles while he dug a never-ending hole to China, and we devoured peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that somehow tasted superior in the salty air. At night, the boardwalk signs lit up the sky, and Kohr Bros soft serve always hit the spot. As a kid, there was nowhere else I’d rather be.
When we became parents, we started taking our own summer trips
After our kids were born, my husband and I started a Jersey Shore tradition of our own. We filled our SUV with duffel bags, sand buckets, and shovels, and every gadget needed to take toddlers away. Our boys enjoyed the beach — and it triggered a sweet nostalgia for me — but hauling the kids and all the gear across the sand was tiring, only for the sun to wear them out quickly, and the heat weakened my body with multiple sclerosis (MS). After eight years of annual beach getaways — when my boys were 9 and 6 — we switched gears completely.
My husband is an avid hiker, and living with chronic illness, I yearned to get away from the hustle and bustle. A higher elevation provides a drier, cooler atmosphere, which helps keep my symptoms at bay. So, our summer family vacation shifted to the Catskill Mountains. Only a three-hour drive from our home, it was equally as accessible as the beach.
We found a place to go that works for our family
From the moment we arrived for our first trip in the summer of 2020, I felt like we were at our second home. It was a great place to spend some of those early pandemic months, offering a beautiful change of scenery while also allowing us to keep our distance from others. We thought it was the perfect COVID-era getaway, but the instant we returned home, we couldn’t wait to go back.
We’ve returned to the Catskills multiple times a year since then — and during every season. Our visits always include biking along the Ashokan Reservoir, swimming in Peekamoose Blue Hole, a natural swimming hole in the Sundown Wild Forest, and eating at our favorite spot, Yum Yum Noodle Bar.
We peruse the shops in Woodstock, New York, and my kids enjoy ice cream from their favorite creamery, Sweet Dreams. In October, we head to the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts — the location of Woodstock in 1969 — for their annual Peace, Love, and Pumpkins festival featuring thousands of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns. While my husband takes the boys hiking, I rest in a peaceful atmosphere that provides a calmness I never found at the beach.
I hope my kids look back on these trips fondly
The Jersey Shore will always remind me of my carefree summer days in the 90s, and I have no doubt my family will enjoy a beach getaway again. But now, my kids have their magical place, too. As adults, when they think of their childhood, they’ll recall the pools at our Airbnbs where we swam beneath the orange sunset.
They’ll remember our favorite bike path with views of the reservoir, and they’ll reminisce about winter days hiking through the snow. I bet they’ll almost taste the sweetness of a roasted marshmallow when they recall our time around the fire pit in the crisp October air.
I hope their magical place feels as wondrous and perfect as the beach always will to me.
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